(2023.10.19)
My teammate and I participated in the competition as a team of two. Through this opportunity, I was able to experience and learn so much, and I felt proud to have created another unforgettable memory from my high school years. I wanted to record this experience, so I decided to write it down!
Let’s start from the preparation process. We began preparing little by little during the summer vacation. To be honest, since I attend an international school, I usually learn all the concepts in English. So, when I heard that the entire competition would be conducted in Korean, I felt quite nervous and thought I should prepare even more thoroughly. On top of that, seeing the names of some of Korea’s most prestigious schools on the participant list made me even more anxious.
The competition was scheduled just a week after our midterm exams, so even after the exams were over, we resisted the temptation to hang out with friends and focused completely on preparation. Thanks to the help of our amazing science teachers Ms. Kim, Ms. Song, Mr. Chun, and Mr. Kim . We were able to prepare thoroughly despite the limited time. They reviewed the essential core concepts, taught us some advanced material, and helped us go through potential lab experiments that might appear in the competition. This was probably one of the most helpful parts of our preparation.
Since all of us on the team are passionate about biology and plan to pursue it in the future, we’ve always felt a bit sad that we don’t often get to perform biology experiments ourselves as students. So having the chance to conduct various kinds of experiments this time made me feel truly happy , as if I was taking one step closer to my dream.
The teachers also explained the announced competition topic to us in both English and Korean, which helped us understand it better. After that, we conducted experiments related to the topic together. Feeling both nervous and excited, my teammate and I met two days before the competition to practice the experiment on our own. We recorded the entire process on video so we could review it later. I could really feel that our speed and accuracy had improved compared to our first trial!
(2023.10.21)— Finally, the day of the competition!
Early in the morning, I gathered at school with my science teachers. After receiving some encouraging words from the vice principal, we headed to Osong in Chungcheongbuk-do. Even on the way there, I didn’t stop studying. I was so focused that before I knew it, we had already arrived!
After arriving, I completed the participant registration and waited for the competition to begin. A few hours later, all the elementary, middle, and high school teams entered the venue. As the competition was about to officially start, my heart pounded with both nervousness and excitement. After the president’s opening speech, the questions were finally announced, and we immediately moved to the laboratory.
On the desks, there were experimental tools and a thick booklet of problems waiting for us. Everyone began tackling the experiments and questions with full concentration. Fortunately, some of the experiments and topics were ones I had studied before, so I carefully solved each problem one by one. There were a few questions that confused me at first, but I recalled the concepts my teachers had emphasized during class and tried to write my answers as logically and clearly as possible. Some questions required specific answers, while others asked for discussion and reasoning, so I did my best to respond thoughtfully and rationally.
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